looking to buy laptop, advice plz

Hi,

I'm something of a computer philistine, so I was hoping you guys could advise me on a laptop. Looking for a cheap/older model one, not much more than $500. I only really want it for word processing, so programs like open office and final draft. And possibly playing movies. I basically want it to sit out in the garden and work without being distracted by all that other crap that is on my desktops (games, internet).

side questions
- do you need a decent graphics card to run all the latest codecs and such?
- for a laptop of this price, how long could you expect the battery to last, when fully charged (how many hours) and in the long term (how many years before it burns out)?
- can you generally buy replacement batteries for older laptops?

>>5
Some laptops are a bitch to buy batteries for.
The Compaq Armada m300, a sort of "business class" ultraportable, would be the ideal machine for your purposes (if you don't mind its small keyboard and ~12" screen) IF ONLY its batteries didn't cost over half the price of the damn machine.
I've had good luck with my IBM Thinkpad T22; for your needs, just about anything from their T20-23 line would probably do just fine. Battery-wise, however, it is a matter of how bright your backlight is and the condition of the battery to begin with. Mine (bought second-hand) was basically shot; i could get maybe a half-hour or so.